Environmental Aspects of Uranium Mining ..

ADVANTAGES

The Bureau noted that a leak of tailings water contaminated with manganese at the Ranger Uranium mine (a mine operated by ERA in an enclave of Kakadu National Park) had been reported in early May 2000. In a statement issued on 3 May 2000, the Australian Government had emphasised that it treats reports of such incidences of leak of tailings water seriously and that full explanation had been sought from ERA and the Northern Territory regulatory authorities. According to the statement issued by the Australian Government, no tailings water had escaped the containment zone at the mine site and that the independent statutory authority, i.e. the Supervising Scientist, had advised that on examination of available information there was no evidence of environmental detriment outside the project area and the water quality downstream had not been affected. The same statement emphasised that there has been no downstream impact on the World Heritage values of Kakadu National Park. The Supervising Scientist had been requested to undertake an independent assessment of the circumstances leading to the leak and of the likely environmental impacts. GAC, Australian NGOs and the Northern Land Council (NLC) had submitted reports on this subject to the Centre which were transmitted to the Permanent Delegate of Australia to UNESCO; the Australian Government had responded to the concerns of all the reports in separate letters addressed to the Director on 21, 23 and 26 June 2000.

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Kakadu - World Heritage In Danger? | The Wilderness …

The Delegate of Australia noted that his Government had provided several voluminous reports on several occasions and looked forward to receiving the ISP of ICSU mission due from 3 to 7 July 2000 to discuss the scientific issues that need to be resolved. He said that the ISP of ICSU visit is tightly focused around scientific issues and that Australia would not agree to any mission with an open-ended reference similar to that which visited Australia and Kakadu at the end of 1998.

Valuing the Preservation of Australia's Kakadu ..

The Representative of ICSU expressed her satisfaction with the collaboration between her Organisation and the Centre in facilitating the work of ISP, established by ICSU to address scientific issues of the Jabiluka mine. Prof. B. Wilkinson, the leader of the ISP and of the team to visit Kakadu from 3 to 7 July 2000, recalled the decision of the third extraordinary session of the Committee, made in July 1999, that called for the continuation of the work of the ISP of ICSU to address and resolve a certain number of outstanding scientific issues. He said that the progress report submitted by the Supervising Scientist has been helpful to reduce uncertainties with regard to some of the issues, while the resolution of others necessitated a field visit to Kakadu. He said that those remaining issues will be addressed during the ISP of ICSU mission to the site in consultations with the Supervising Scientist and his consultants, ERA, Park Manager and staff and some Australian scientists who continue to express concerns regarding the Jabiluka mine and the potential impacts it could have on the integrity of Kakadu. He also informed the Bureau that he has recently received information on leakage from the Ranger mine and concerns raised by that incident that are relevant to the management of the Jabiluka mine would also be discussed.

Meaning of land to Aboriginal people

Selenium in particular has been identified as a contaminant of concern at two modern uranium mining and processing operations in Saskatchewan—Key Lake (Wiramanaden et al., 2010) and McClean Lake (Muscatello and Janz, 2009a). At both of these sites, selenium was found to accumulate in the tissues of aquatic biota, even though concentrations of dissolved selenium in the water column were low. The environmental transformations and transfer pathways responsible for this accumulation appear to be quite complex. Wiramanaden et al. (2010) found that selenium accumulated in benthic invertebrates in Fox Lake, downstream from the treated effluent discharge from the Key Lake Mill. The authors concluded that inorganic selenium was being adsorbed by phytoplankton in Fox Lake, settling to the bottom sediments, being converted to organic forms by microorganisms present in the sediment, and being transferred to benthic invertebrates that feed on organic detritus present in the sediment. The authors also found that the rate at which selenium is removed from the water column and transferred to sediment and biota is influenced by both water chemistry and sediment characteristics, especially sediment total organic carbon. Similarly, Muscatello and Janz (2009a) found selenium accumulation in phytoplankton, benthic invertebrates, and fish in Vulture Lake, which receives treated effluent from the McClean Lake mine site. The highest concentrations were observed in fish, although Muscatello and Janz (2009b) found no overt effects of selenium exposures on adult spawning northern pike and white sucker fish or on the eggs and larvae compared with those in a nearby uncontaminated lake.

Poverty Alleviation through World Heritage Conservation

As discussed previously, waste rock piles, composed primarily of overburden or low-grade ore from either deep and/or surface mining operations, can also contribute to degradation of surface water quality (e.g., Rum Jungle, Cluff Lake). The disposal of waste rock is an issue in mining in general, because the volume of the mine voids cannot contain the entire volume of material removed during a mining operation; waste rock is typically stored in aboveground piles near a mine to minimize handling and disposal costs. Management of waste rock piles at uranium mines has evolved from the realization that all waste rock does not behave the same geochemically. The presence of metal sulfide minerals in portions of the waste rock is a cause of particular concern because of the possibility of AMD, and so proper characterization of the chemical properties of waste rock throughout the mining process is an important first step in addressing this potential hazard. Exposure of fresh mineral surfaces to oxygen during mining makes the waste rock more chemically reactive. Modern mitigation techniques for waste rock disposal would also include (1) careful siting of waste rock piles and construction of drainage ditches to facilitate collection of leachates; (2) isolation and burial of waste rock with high potential for contamination in low permeability strata to minimize interactions with water and air; and (3) if warranted, chemical